PS 3505 
.U95 S5 
1920 
Copy 1 



Skadoxtf s in me Glass 

Emma C. Cuskman 



4 



SHADOWS IN THE 
GLASS 



BY 

EMMA C. CUSHMAM 




The Christopher Publishing House 
Boston, Massachusetts 






Copyright IQ20 
By The Christopher Publishing House 



©CI.A5G5878 
MAV -8 i920 



. 



CONTENTS 

An Offering 7 

Easter Greeting 8 

My Aeroplane 9 

The Question 10 

My Casket 11 

A Testimony 12 

A Birthday Wish 13 

An Incident 14 

A Look 15 

An Answer 16 

The Lesson 17 

Lie Still and Deep 18 

A Voice 19 

How Did You Love? 20 

My Dream 21 

Giving 22 

A Song 23 

Christmas Morning 24 

1920 25 



AN OFFERING 



D/JEAR Father God, 
In Who giveth to Thy children 
3<*> The things they call their own, 
As we give to our little ones 
The toys with which they play, 
And having drawn a picture 
They run to us and say, 
"Oh, look, what I have made for you, 
It is a house! It shows what I can do!" 
So, Father, I, Thy little child, 
Take what Thou givest me, 
And having scribbled verses 
I run to Thee and say, 
"These are poems! They are for Thee, 
See what I've done, with what Thou givest 
me!" 




EASTER GREETING 



CVUDME Spring, come flowers, 
J J Come life to every thing, 
And to all hearts O bring 
The Christ who lives within. 

After the darkness, light, 
After the cold the warm 
For us who have waited long 
For the quickening to come. 

Rise in Thy perfect glory 

Rise like the Rose of Sharon 

Tell us again the story 

Of Christ who comes in the Spring. 

Love that goes on forever 
Love that makes all things new 
We hear thy voice proclaiming 
I am preparing a place for you. 



MY AEROPLANE 




ENEATH me is a stormy 

waste, 
The ocean of a troubled world, 
Around me is a vast expanse 
Which stretches where no eye can see; 
Above me is Infinity, 
Toward which I sail my fragile barque 
Freighted with my ignorance, 
And almost lost in mystery, 
I cannot see, I cannot hear, 
The outlook is too veiled for me, 
And so, Oh Master, take the helm! 
A trusting passenger I would be 
Whose eyes are only fixed on Thee 
What time I'm sailing, toward Eternity. 



THE QUESTION* 



NttAO SHROUDED figure stood 
\\ beside my bed 

And asked me, "Are you sat- 
isfied?" 
But a smiling angel came to me and said, 
"Is there no other thing that you desire?" 
I, smiling also, quickly answered, 
"What more can I desire since I have all?" 
And then the angel looked at me 
And said, "Is there no secret wish 
Deep in your deepest soul, 
No unextinguished longing in your past 
Which comes sometimes and holds you fast, 
Disturbing all your vaunted calm?" 

I covered up my face 

And saw the shrouded form. 



*It is said just before Shelley died he saw a 
shrouded figure who asked him, "Are you satis- 
fied?" 

10 




MY CASKET 

HAD a little casket 
To which there was no key 
For He who sent it me 
Had said you'll find a key within. 

But when I tried to open it 
Behold, the box was sealed, 
And no amount of skill 
Availed to force the fastening. 

I tried innumerable keys, 

I asked from many help; 

But more and more, as years passed by 

The mystery grew more deep. 

I dreamed of it by night 
I thought of it by day 
My casket — to open it 
O, how to find the way! 

I questioned those who knew 
Or said they thought they knew; 
I tried their keys, but all these 
Failed in furnishing a clue. 

At length, the One who gave 
The precious gift to me 
Took pity on my suffering 
And sent a key to me. 

It was key which answered 
To a combination lock; 
And when at last I opened it 
I found within was — God. 
11 



A TESTIMONY 




AM not what I was before you 
came. 
And all that in my being was 

divine 
Had leapt responsive to every word you 

said. 
Such impress does not pass, and once made 

mine 
On what will one day be complete 
Will set its own immortal seal. 
I am not what I was before you came 
And by your voice and teaching brought 
The larger vision covering the skies. 
I see the color caught from worlds beyond, 
I see the joy of service to mankind, 
I make a new sweet claim to brotherhood 
Both for myself and those I love the best, 
A claim to work, to serve, and thus help 

all the rest. 



12 



A BIRTHDAY WISH 




SEND thee, dear, a birthday 
wish today, 
This day that brought thee 

smiling to our plane 
What time I knew not all the joy for me 
That waited till I heard thy voice again, 
What matter Babylon or Persia, or Cathay 
Adaia, Jeanie, daughter, sister, friend, 
I hold your hand, I see your face today, 
And all the past is one long loving memory. 
So take my birthday wish I send you, sweet, 
That all of love you ever felt or knew 
And all the love I ever gave to you 
May concentrate in blessings from your past 
And fill your evening cup so full, so full, 
That it will overflow o'er all the world at 

last. 



13 




AN INCIDENT 



TANDING before a face one 
day, 
Standing before a consecrated 



Not realizing all that meant perhaps, 
I said, "Is there no place for me 
Within the railing which is built around, 
Or must I always stand and gaze 
Between impenetrable bars?" 
And then one said, "There is a gate, 
But he who passes through 
Must leave his outer self behind; 
Within are no compartments, 
Neither great nor small, 
For all is open space 
And God is all in all." 



14 



A LOOK 




F THE ultimate exchange of 
human love, 
The best expression of a real 
friendship, 
Could be a symbol of the divine, 
I think the supreme one 
Would be — a look. 
To meet the eyes of one we loved 
For one transcendent steadfast moment 
In which all clouds were swept away 
And soul looked straight into another soul, 
As if a curtain suddenly were drawn, 
The sense of all apartness disappeared — 
And the solemn rapture of a perfect 
Understanding took its place — all mystery 
Solved, and only one instead of two endured. 



15 



AN ANSWER 



T^OU ask me, dear, what I have 
\\ found 
£21 Most beautiful in life, 
I think a moment before I say, 
"The sunsets we have watched together, 
The heart of a rose which you have 

gathered, 
The smile of a child in the face of its 

mother, 
Eyes of friends as they meet one another; 
But more beautiful still 
Beyond words wonderful, 
Not to be told to you, 
Not to be uttered by me 
Only to be knelt before 
For God is in it, 
Is the sight of a soul 
As I have once seen it." 



16 



THE LESSON 



W//HAT have I learned from thee, 
//) Thou teacher of men's souls? 
Let me count the lessons first 
And then say them o'er and o'er. 
I have learned the lesson of sincerity, 
The beautiful unconsciousness of self; 
Fearlessness when truth is at the stake, 
Forbearance when our brothers make mis- 
take; 
I have learned what absolute surrender 
Means, have learned by seeing heaven and 

hell, 
But first and last and more than I can tell 
I've listened and been satisfied when 
You've taught the love of Christ to men. 



17 




LIE STILL AND DEEP 



HAT can I say to thee today, 

Beloved ? 
,The shadows come and go across 
my glass, 
But through them all I catch a glimpse of 

Joy, 
A joy so deep it will not let me speak. 
Lie still and deep, my Joy. 

Erstwhile I would not let my soul 
Dwell on this wondrous sunlight 
Which has dawned with dazzling gleam 
On one who dreamed it but a dream, 
Lie still and deep, my Light. 

Henceforth I only ask to understand 
And not to shut the windows of my soul, 
I only ask since love can filter through 
That it may always shine on me and you. 
Lie still and deep, my Love. 



18 




A VOICE 



HAVE listened to a voice 
which 

Has borne me far away, 
But with the voice there came 
A Personality, and then 
My spirit cried aloud and said 
"What art thou unto me, 
Who have vowed my soul 
And life to only one Finality?" 

After long struggle and passionate pain 
In deep silence I heard a voice again, 
It was one no other sound could smother, 
It said, "You shall love one another 
As I have loved thee, and thus learn 
The whole lesson of Humanity." 



19 



HOW DID YOU LOVE? 



HyVOW DID You love, Oh, Mas- 
y? ter of all Truth?" 
yfc I waited for an answer 
And this is what I heard, 
It was the Voice of Voices 
Only heard through deepest pain, 
The pain which bore Him to the cross 
To prove His love to men. 
But before that final sacrifice 
He spoke as I to you, and looked 
On His disciples as I have looked on you 
And loved them in their human form 
As I love you, because He knew 
While they listened to His promises 
They loved His presence too. 



20 




MY DREAM 



WALKED through fields of 
deathless asphodel 
With one who said she knew 
them well; 
The perfume of the flowers 
The color of the atmosphere 
Were like celestial music 
Which is rather felt than heard, 
While the singing of a bird 
Seemed the fragrance of the flowers. 

I said, this must be heaven; 
She said, — it is what will be 
When all your dreams are ended 
And all your work is done, 
You shall hear the Master's voice 
Whispering softly to you — Come. 



21 



GIVING 



A in LL I can give I am giving 
yM I only ask power to give more, 
)0 ^q But always the spirit lingers 
Too near to this earthly shore. 

All is too little to give 
Compared to Thy love for me, 
Whatever there is that holds me 
I surrender that wholly to Thee. 

I who have nothing but love 
Now offer that gladly to Thee, 
I who have longed for return of it 
Will wait for that blessing to be. 



22 




A SONG 



ONLY breathed thy name 
Unto my Christmas roses, 
Their petals trembled with 
mute sympathy 
I spoke thy name aloud 
And suddenly a sound of music came. 

I spoke it in the early dawn 
And right away out shone the sun, 
I prayed for thee at night 
Until the stars came, one by one. 

Before I slept I murmured low, 

"If at the gate of Heaven I could not 

enter in 
I think if I should speak thy name 
The doors would open straight and let me 

in. 



23 



CHRISTMAS MORNING 




WAS wakened by strains of 
music 
As they brought me a mass 
of roses 
But before my eyes had opened 
It seemed I heard my name. 
I knew it was the Christ child 
Who was calling out to me 
As He called out to Mary 
In the days of Galilee. 

As He calls on all who hear 
In the still and quiet hours 
When the heart is full of music 
And no other sound is near 
And the perfume of the roses 
Praises God with you and me. 



24 



920 



O^H, THOU who makest all 
J) things new 
£>*^ We gladly give the old year 

"P. 
The old year with its joy and pain, 
Its broken pledges, its loss and gain. 
Some things we have carried over, 
Hope for our world, love for our brother, 
And we lay upon Thy altar now 
The same old love, the same old vow, 
No new vow, but a vow renewed. 
To keep the promises we have made, 
In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. 
Oh, Thou who makest all things new, 
Make new our hearts so we may say 
It is a Happy New Year's Day. 



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